This is my personal blog. I was Branch Secretary of Lambeth UNISON from 1992 to 2017 and a member of the National Executive Council (NEC) of UNISON, the public service union (www.unison.org.uk) from 2003 to 2017.
I am Chair of Brighton Pavilion Constituency Labour Party and of the Sussex Labour Representation Committee (LRC).
Neither the Labour Party nor UNISON is responsible for the contents of this personal blog. (Nor is my employer!)

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Monday, September 22, 2014

Going back to our roots

Our General
Secretary, Dave Prentis went back to his roots at
Labour Party Conference today with a Conference
speech that pledged support for Ed Miliband but demanded support in turn for our
members, whom Dave referred to as “our
roots, our betrayed base.”

Reminding
the Conference that we are planning strike action in health and local
government in the coming month, Dave said; “we
expect our Labour movement, our Labour party, our political leadership to support
us when our members take action.”

That is a
message which UNISON branches need to take to every Labour MP and Prospective
Parliamentary Candidate.

We should
focus our energies in the run up to the election on supporting candidates who
march with us in London and Glasgow on Saturday 18 October, and make a special
effort for those who join our picket lines outside hospitals on Monday 13
October, and Council offices on Tuesday 14 October.

Labour
politicians should support the Party’s “betrayed
base” by coming back to the roots of our movement and supporting workers in
struggle this autumn.